NEW PRODUCT SDP TOPICAL 1 Puttin to the Acid Test Lorries as nighttime instruments of torture for peace-seeking citizens? These days are over once and for all thanks to the whispering Steyr lorries. The Whispering Lorries with the Steyr logo intended for use in reduced noise zones are effectively only half as loud as normal trucks. They whisper with a maximum noise level of 78 dB(A), and are thereby somewhat quieter even than foreseen by law for newly-registered diese! lorries in Austria. That is the outcome of permanent measuring and research. In the St. Valentin Acoustic Centre the lorry-builders' Big Ear was installed recently. The first commandment in environmental protection reads: Reduce noise at source! Noise Lorry on the power-brake while at a standstill (engine, ventilator, exhaust), noise during driving (wheel and wind noises, engine, bodywork)-the important !hing is to know "Where?". For this a new electronic testbench has been installed. lts key element is a large power-brake. The vehicles can be coupled there to driveshafts whose height can be varied. In this way various rpm categories and load situations in all possible gear-change circumstances can be checked. Without the acoustic pattern being affected by road surface noises and 12 driving wind. Tests are carried out too, of course, in realistic driving conditions. lt is possible here to measure tire- and wind-noises an the lest stretch. And about that lest stretch. lt is the torture chamber for every vehicle. The lest begins on a high-speed streich. Then the lorry, or the Puch G, or the Pinzgauer is given a thrashing an what specialists politely call a "selective" country circuit. A "washboard" (the name explains everything) ensures that various hidden vibrations are engendered. On two twisting passages the vehicle is shaken through a passage which includes 40 centimetre high concrete blocks. lnclination and cornering are demonstrated by a circuit of 80 meter diameter. And , last but not least, there are two genuine gravel pits whose entrances and exits have an inclination of up to 45 percent which tests the ability of building vehicles to cope with these extremes. Torture-stretch for every vehicle
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